The application refers to an optical fiber cable and to a method of forming an optical fiber cable.
Optical fiber cables, in particular indoor cables, often contain flammable materials such as plastic materials which, once having caught fire, bear the risk of propagating the fire from one spot in a building to further rooms or areas. Combustible materials widely in use are, for instance, PE, PP, EVA and other plastics or synthetic materials, for instance thermoplastics. These and other flammable materials are often contained in the material of the cable jacket or of the buffer tubes which are arranged within the cable jacket and each surround a respective number of optical fibers.
In order to avert the fire hazard of optical fiber cables, replacement materials instead of the above-mentioned combustible materials could be used during cable fabrication, especially for the cable jacket and/or the buffer tubes. Furthermore, optical fiber cables containing combustible materials might additionally contain a fire-retardant material as a component, that is as an ingredient in a material composition of the fiber jacket and/or of the buffer tubes, thereby rendering them more resistant to fire. Furthermore, optical fiber cables might comprise, around the cable jacket which per se might be made of a combustible material, an additional outer fire-protecting layer which prevents the cable jacket from being ignited.
However, any of the above approaches implies increased costs and/or manufacturing effort to obtain fire protection for the optical cable.
There is a need to provide an optical fiber cable that is fire-resistant or even self-extinguishable when in contact with fire and that is less costly and/or more efficient to produce. Furthermore, there is a need to provide a method of forming a fire-resistant optical fiber cable.